Great turnout for Matt Davidson Memorial Tourney

REPUBLIC — This past weekend, the best basketball players in the U.P. made their way to Republic–Michigamme High School for the second annual Matt Davidson Memorial Tournament.

The tourney was created in memory of the girls basketball coach Matt Davidson, who passed away last year in a car accident. His son, Jarrett, is one of the organizers of the event and he says this year’s installment had a great turnout.

“It’s pretty great. There’s quite a few more teams this year so it’s great to see a better turnout. And I feel like there’s a lot more people in the stands, too. I think that’s a great thing to see that shows what kind of person he was,” Davidson said.

Jarrett spent a lot of time with his father during his time coaching and he says it’s a lot of fun to be playing in the gym where his dad coached.

“Even when he started coaching and I was through elementary and middle school, even through high school I was here all the time. I know a lot of the people coming in and out of the gym almost just as well as he did, so it’s great to see everybody out here,” said Davidson.

U.P. Insurance won the Class A tournament, while Fox Negaunee took first place in the Class B tournament. Organizers hope to have a girls division in next year’s tournament.